To say that we here at UPROXX have been looking forward to True Detective would be a gross understatement, as we’ve barely been able to contain our big, throbbing boner for the show since the day HBO announced it was picking up the detective series — the first season of which was written solely by creator Nic Pizzolatto — starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson.

So let’s get right to it, shall we? Here are a few notes I made during last night’s True Detective about characters, scenes, etc. I found interesting for one reason or another.

– While watching True Detective I felt like I was watching a really well-done version of a standard network forensic detective show, though one I found it to be rather absorbing and hypnotic. The hour flew by in that way that great television will make time fly by. I checked the clock at one point to see that there only ten minutes left in the show and I was like, “Aw, damn I better savor these last few minutes.”

– I know we’re only one episode in, but I simply can’t heap enough praise on Matthew McConaughey for his portrayal of Rust Cohle, aka “the Taxman” who’d “pick a fight with the sky if he didn’t like its shade of blue,” according to Harrelson’s Martin Hart. The guy perhaps best known throughout most of his career for playing stoners and smooth-talking ladies men in rom-coms continues to reveal himself to be one of the great character actors of our time. It’s been said that the serial killer and his crimes won’t be the main focus of True Detective, but that the show will instead revolve around the characters played by McConaughey and Harrelson. Well, if that’s the case, score round one for McConaughey, as I simply couldn’t take my eyes off of him last night.

– While McConaughey’s character stood out most, Harrelson’s character had the line of the night in response to being asked to describe himself as a detective: “Oh, I was just a regular type dude with a big-ass dick.”

– I found myself at one point thinking how fun it would be to watch the episode over again with McConaughey playing Hart and Harrelson playing Cohle. It’d be interesting to see how their character choices would differ, if much at all. I wonder if at any point serious consideration was giving to them playing the opposite roles? That said, they both seem like perfect fits for the characters they do portray.

– I hope that we see more of Michelle Monaghan as Maggie Hart. I have a feeling we will.

– The body of the murder victim — a girl found naked in a praying position naked with deer antlers affixed to her head — is found in Erath, Louisiana on January 3, 1995. For those of you wondering, Erath is a real town, a small Cajun community in southwest Louisiana near Lafayette — sandwiched between the towns of Delcambre and Abbeville — and it’s well-known locally for its annual Independence Day celebration. (Also, one of my best friends in college was from Erath.) The town, whose population hovers around 2000, was flooded heavily by Hurricane Rita in 2005, so it stands to reason that files from a 1990s murder investigation that were housed there would have been destroyed, as all of Erath was submerged for days. (I’m not sure, however, if its ever established where exactly Hart and Cohle are being interviewed in present day about the murders.) That said, Cohle’s assessment of that area is spot-on: “People out here. It’s like they don’t even know the outside world exists. They might as well be living on the f*cking moon.” So true. All people in Vermilion parish care about for the most part are hunting, fishing, eating, drinking, f*cking and football.

– So nice to see Brother Mouzone, AKA actor Michael Potts, back in something I’ll be regularly watching. Mouzone remains one of my favorite TV characters of all-time.

– It was interesting to see the contrast in the two characters at the two different periods the show is set. Cohle is perhaps predictably even more hardened by life in 2012 (the show’s more recent setting) than he is 1995, though he has fewer f*cks to give. He’s just out there, including, obviously, with his physical appearance, as he transforms from looking like your everyday middle class worker drone to a washed out hippie. Whereas he mentions in one of the 1995 scenes that he’s not down with talking about religion at work, one gets the sense that 2012 Cohle wouldn’t hesitate for a second to share his thoughts about anything with anyone at anytime.

Hart, for his part, also seems looser, less uptight, than the earlier version of himself, as evidenced by his “big-ass dick” line.”

– I have to admit to LOLing at Cohle’s response to Hart asking about the crucifix hanging above his bed, saying that it’s “a form of meditation. I contemplate the moment in the garden, the idea of allowing your own crucifixion.” As heavy as that is, I kind of lost it and burst into a fit of laughter when he said that.

– I can’t help but wonder if the names “Hart” and “Cohle” aren’t some sort of play on “heart and soul,” since Cohle’s soul seems to be darker than a lump of coal. Additionally, I love the contrast between the two partners — one a single loner who lives in a virtually unfurnished apartment, the other a married family man living with a wife and two kids in a house in the suburbs.

– Finally, here are some questions I’m dying for answers to going forward:

1. What else is in Cohle’s past and how did his daughter die?

2. What skeletons does Hart have in his closet?

3. What happened to the missing Fontenot girl?

4. Why was the missing Fontenot girl’s uncle — the former LSU baseball player — in such bad physical shape? (Did I miss something there?)

5. Is Cohle perhaps a suspect in the murder that has detectives asking questions about the 1995 case?

You own thoughts, feelings, questions etc. are encouraged in the comments.

I had such a huge lady boner during the show, I love it. & I’m thrilled that we’ll get more seasons, but different actors & stories. So you know it’s going to wrap up in an awesome finale & each episode will be savored.

That said, I felt that, so far, the two main characters have fit into the typical “major crimes unit” molds. One is a family guy who is more normal, but doesn’t let the work impact him & has been able to make a real life for himself. The other is the loner who absorbs too much from his work & can’t let it go & it darkens his soul.

I can’t wait to see what happened to cause their partnership to crumble & fall apart.

They are using the broad outline of the typical molds, but they are both going to be more complex and more like real people. The work is affecting Hart. Not being able to sleep, seeing his little girls as akin to the missing girls…and the fact that he’s clearly sleeping with the girl from Percy Jackson and Hall Pass. He’s fucked up too, just not in an obvious way.

@Duchess you know that’s going to happen. It’s almost too clear as in 5 minutes she already knows more about Cohle than Hart does, and Cohle decided to stay for dinner after he opened up just a little to her.

@CB @duchess @wheezer I kept wondering throughout the episode as to why Hart would be talking about the night he brought Cohle home for dinner. Seems like such an unimportant moment given they’re there to talk about a case. But your hypothesis paints that in a new light. It could be where Hart feels his marriage began to break apart — introducing Maggie and Cohle while he was busy giving out special depositions.

I figured that was going to happen after the dinner and when the detectives questioning Hart bring up the blow-out he and Cohle had in 2002. So using my own detective skills I’m guessing Hart finds out about Cohle sleeping with Hart’s wife in about 2002.

The Fontenet girl’s uncle is in the shape that he’s in because of a series of strokes that hit him a while back. It was kind of quietly mentioned as his lady was talking to Hart while Cohle was finding the devil catcher in the back shed.

They explained the LSU player’s malady as a “medical condition”. The way they explained it made me think he had a stroke or something. I enjoyed the episode, though didn’t feel pulled in until Chole delivered that final line. I’m sure most of this was set up for later episodes, so I’m looking forward to seeing what else they have in store.

Lots of questions remain to be answered, but I suppose that’s the point. Why would you come back if they answered all of them?

There was the billboard about her on the side of the road & Rust had already said that this wasn’t the killer’s first crime, it was too set. So they’re thinking that the missing girl may be a previous victim.

Bingo. I had a similar feeling — it reminded me of Top of the Lake for the entire hour. Eerie, hyper-localized setting with its own ethos, an outsider trying to make sense of it while also trying to make sense of the case….I’m all-in.

A few years back, I had some work that meant traveling from Houston to the Coushatta Indian Reservation, which is a bit northwest of Lafayette. It was only a few hours drive, but seemed like a world away.

I’m betting Woody and Alexandra Daddario, who made the briefest of appearances last night in the police station, are having an affair. Just a hunch. And if you saw the awful Texas Chain Saw 3D, you know I am sincere in asking HBO “please show us her boobies.” Just sayin.

Thought it was great – I wish we had a little less voiceover from the present day and more interaction of the 1995 characters directly.

Also loved how I was scared shitless in the scene outside the chicken coop before they find the devil net. That’s just quality writing, acting, and directing. Broad daylight, no eerie music, no zombies, nothing but a pile of sticks in a chicken coup and I felt genuine dread.

The way that they have set it up, you want to believe that the current day detectives at least think that Cohle has some part in the new murder. Although, with no real reason, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re looking at Hart for it. He didn’t seem to bring up the new one at all.

He did at the end. When he turns to the interviewers and says something about them not bothering to interview him unless something new had happened. But it’s true he doesn’t have anywhere near the obvious engagement that Cohle does.

Here’s something you may have missed that goes to one of your questions – Hart is banging some chick from the DA’s office (I think it’s the DA’s office, she didn’t really say. She just brought in some “depositions” for him to look at.) and in the 2012 scenes, he’s not wearing his wedding ring.

The two detective in 2012 were definitely implying that Cohle was a suspect by saying, “you’ve been off the grid for 8 years.” Then Cohle does nothing to dispell their suspicions by saying “Start asking the right fucking questions”. It also was very odd for someone with Cohle’s analytic nature to only look at the photo of the new murder for such a short time. You’d think he’d look at it longer, unless he’d never seen it before. I doubt he is the killer, but the writing was setting up the viewer to, at least, think about Cohle as a suspect. Personally I loved Cohle’s character so much that even if he is the killer it doesn’t bother me all that much.

I think the off the grid and fuck it nature will be do to outside interference to his job. The real killer will be someone with political clout like the pastor who is forming the ant-christian crimes squad or someone close to that, who could basically force a false arrest and make the analytical Cohel to just go off the deepend.

It’s my interpretation of how the interview of Cohle is made to look like an interrogation, and the way the show opened with the sound of a zippo lighter much like the one Cohle uses, to mean they are trying a little misdirection that Rust could be a suspect.

Personally I believe that we have two killers. The one they arrested back in 1995 and the one in 2012 who is maybe a spin off of the first killer or part of the same cult as the first killer.

Oh, they’re definitely trying to make viewers think Cohle might be responsible for the recent (bridge) murder. Like maybe his involvement in the first case drove him over the edge and he’s adopted the original murderer’s designs / ambitions etc. It’s definitely clear that the two detectives are questioning him, and Hart, with that thought in the back of their minds.

“continues to reveal himself to be one of the great character actors of our time.”

Whoa, whoa, slow…the…fuck…down. Look, I’m a McConaughey fan. And I love it when a good actor crosses into ‘great’ territory (which is where he’s certainly headed). But referring to him as “one of the great character actors of our time” on the basis of his last three performances seems a bit premature. I mean, I honestly hope he gets there. I’ll be rooting for him. But let’s not rush to wash his balls for him.

Agreed Iron Mike, Im a big fan of most of his shit dont get me wrong, and Cajun Boy I think you left out one of his crown jewels, A Time to Kill. But really the only Character Matthew McConaughey plays is Matthew McConaughey. –P.S he was in Wolf of wall street for all of 2 and a half minutes

But what a magical two & a half minutes they were. He played the character that set up Jordan for all of his future shit & taught us that the world revolves around coke & whapping. The tribal chest-thumps were hilarious.

Also, when they were doing their initial canvas of the area, they interviewed an old man and the first thing he said was if the body they found was the Fontenot girl’s. They didn’t know who he was talking about so they pulled the case file and it seemed poorly investigated so they went and talked to the family.

Got super jacked up as soon as I saw Alexandra Daddario come strolling in as Miss. Depositions, expecting to see those tig ol’ bitties since there was a “Nudity” warning before the show, then got sad when I realized that was probably referring to Corpse Butt, but I’m happy again since people are saying she gets topless. What a roller coaster of emotions.

I loved it. I kept having the thought that I so appreciate that we have actors at the top of their games like McConaughey and Harrelson being able to craft characters like these over an extended period of several episodes (and hopefully, several seasons). “True Detective” would make a good enough movie, but as an episodic TV show, it’s going to be rich and brilliant.

Also, does anyone know what song was being played over the closing credits?

I remember seeing a documentary regarding Pink Floyd and how Roger Waters would often tell young artists that sometimes silence, a brief pause, is a good way to go more so than noise just for the sake of noise.

While watching the episode last night, I was captivated by the pauses. It was less two actors reading lines together and more an exercise of actually listening and responding after serious thought. I thought the show was fabulous. I am in.

It is clear for all to see that Cohle ’12 is a full blown alcoholic as evidenced by his drinking at noon and the flask of whiskey he keeps in his pocket. What will be really interesting to see is how this might skew HIS version of the Dora Lange investigation.

What really peaks my curiosity about this first episode is how the detectives of ’12 are prodding Rust and Cohle for every detail, no matter how small, they can muster as the files from the investigation were allegedly destroyed by Hurricane Rita. I say allegedly because what if these detectives from ’12 suspect that the Lange case files had been tampered with? Someone who works in the DA’s office would have access to those sort of files correct? I am not yet ready to throw out half cocked Rowles-like conspiracy theories, just merely pointing out some things I found suspicious in the first episode.

The whole episode felt like the cops definitely suspected Cohle. And how long before everyone knows that Hart is banging the girl who brought him records. I’m guessing Cohles inability to restrain himself leads to that info coming out later and their rift.

I was looking forward to this show very, very much. Maybe too much, because it didn’t do a whole hell of a lot for me. Yeah, Mcconaughey is fantastic as Cohle. Definitely. And I know it’s a slow-burner and all… but why couldn’t have this come out on Netflix so I can binge that shit. Seems like the type of show that is so much more than the sum of its episodes, which naturally lends itself better to the binge-format. Since it’s on regular ol’ TV, the slow-burn just turns out to be super slow and sort of boring.

I’m definitely going to give it at least 2 more episodes, and I think there’s more than a decent chance I could be fully on board by then (Mcconaughey said he was on board after reading the first 3 scripts).. but it’s going to have to get on with it.

I was thinking the same stuff about the casting. Harrelson and McConaughey seem like two guys who can play similar parts, and it seems less obvious to have McConaughey play the one who seem more effed up. But I guess the signs are there that Hart’s a sleeze and Cohle’s just misunderstood, at least in 1995.
I like that Cohle sent the cops to get him beer and then he was drinking from a flask later on.

Late to the recap, my bad.
This shit just blew me away. It’s so controlled, it’s so careful. Every single person that shows up on screen is so visibly haunted that I had a hard time not feeling for every single one of them. Nobody is happy here, and it’s just palpable. THIS is the perfect example of show and not tell. I cannot wait for more of this. Just brutal, and amazing.